She was
by ShikamaruKun
Summary: Temari is confused about how she feels for him. Why was she still in the hospital? Why did she even care? Temari struggles to understand her actions. What else happened in the hospital? A fic following the storyline. Shikatema. CHAPTER 3 UP!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes: Wow! My first fanfic ever published! I've done some for final fantasy but nothing serious, but I just got into Naruto and I just couldn't help to do it. This one is a Shikatema, it takes place when Shikamaru's team returns from the Sasuke mission, and it revolves around what Shika and Temari did while they were at the hospital. It's my version of what could have happened there. I follow the storyline literally so there are some spoilers mainly from chapters 235 and 238 in the manga and episodes 135 and 142 in the anime. I do not own naruto.  
Oh and I'm sorry for any mistakes, my first language is not English so there could be some grammatical errors, but I think I kept them to a minimum.**

**She was.**

Chapter 1 : The beginning 

Shizune rushed to the Hokage office to inform her about the current situation.

"Tsunade-sama" she called desperately "The team in charge of retrieving Uchiha Sasuke is back, two of them are in very bad state, we have to take action immediately!" the two female medics ran to do so in the moment.

Meanwhile outside the hospital, the three sand ninjas were getting ready to return to the hidden village of sand since their work there was done.

"Well we better get going" said Kakarou. Gaara nodded. "It's a long trip and it'll be better to leave as soon as possible".

"All right lets go".

"Wait…" the voice of their sister interrupted them.

"Let's stay until tomorrow it's too late to leave now…" said Temari almost whispering. Both her brothers looked at her with a puzzling expression on their faces.

Don't worry about that we've done the trip before and there was no problem. Besides, I doubt we'll find any opponent strong enough to handle the three of us.

"I have… I have to stay here…"

"What for? Our work is here done. We were only instructed to assist them, now that they're here there's no reason to stay" said Kankuro

"There's some business… I have to take care of…" said Temari while looking at the ground.

This came as a surprise to her brothers; the response they expected was something more like "Because I want to baka!" It was unusual to see their sister act like that, not at all like her normal self, yelling and acting confident around anyone. She seemed a little ashamed, Kankuro though. The last time Kankuro could remember her acting like that was when they were around their father. Containing the urge to investigate further they just decided to accept without questioning.

"All right. We'll look for a hotel to spend the night. Meet us at the gate when you're done" Gaara said, "but don't come back too late, we must return as soon as possible", she nodded.

Temari walked into the hospital and asked for chouji at the reception.

"Emergency room number 6", the nurse in charge replied with a smile. She walked towards the ER and found Shikamaru sitting on a bench on the right wall of the room, toying with his fingers evidently nervous and disturbed. She went to the bench at the left wall and took seat without saying a word, and then proceed to cross her legs. Whereas any guy would have gone red, Shikamaru seemed to barely notice her presence, if he did at all. He was too busy quietly blaming himself for everything that happened. Temari just stayed there apparently offering a quiet sympathy, even though that would be really unlike her. Then she decided to take a dive into her mind and analyze the situation to get things straight with herself.

She wasn't sure why she was still there. She had been trying to figure it out for a while. Both her brothers wanted to return to the sand village after dropping the injured leaf nins but she wanted to stay… even though Shikamaru's injuries were minor. He seemed quite upset, a feeling she had never seen on him since she meet him. "Why should I care about this lazy …" she whispered to herself still sitting in the bench outside the emergency room. She'd never really cared about no one, only her brothers and she didn't really have much to care about in all honesty. She was dead afraid of one of them (even though his sudden chance of attitude Temari couldn't shake away the images of him murdering so many people in cold blood), and didn't though much about the other. He could take care of himself. But this was different…

Temari felt something for Shikamaru that she'd never felt before. It wasn't the respect for having been beaten by him, or cockiness for having saved him just a few hours ago. It was something… weird... She though she knew what it was… but she refused completely that possibility not even allowing herself to think about it again "What are you thinking Temari" she said to herself.

She was confused. That would sum up Temari's feeling at the moment. Of course in the outside, she was as confident as always with a stone cold glare unhesitant. That's what a ninja is trained for after all. But deep inside… she faced issues she'd never faced before.

A few hours passed until Temari decided to break the long silence.

"There's no point in fidgeting. Sacrifice is an inevitable part of missions… didn't you received emotional training?" she said, managing to control her emotions flawlessly.

"Training and actual combat are different…" Shikamaru said, "In a mission you don't know what's going to happen. And I… was a team leader for the first time on this mission. Because of that I understand that… I'm not cut out to be a shinobi". For the first time since they meet Temari saw a truly weak Shikamaru. Willing to give up in an instant what had been his life for all this years. Certainly a soft side she didn't knew he possessed. Or any men for that matter.

"Unexpected fragility… men are strange…" She said. Shikamaru though briefly that that phrase sounded like something he'd say about the opposite sex.

Ignoring the out of order though, he stood up for the first time in hours.

"I shouldn't have been the team leader this time… I just trusted everyone else. I was laid back I didn't' have enough strength… it's all my fault…"

"Are you afraid of being hurt?" Temari said.

Shikamaru keep quiet for a moment and after stuffing his hands in his pockets started walking to the other side of the corridor as if he was going to leave the hospital.

"Maybe the comment was a bit out of line…" she though keeping her cold exterior perfectly.

"Shikamaru" a voice temari couldn't recognize said. After taking a look at the mysterious man she knew it could be no one else but shikamaru's father. "A striking resemblance" she though to her insides.

"You're being talked down by a girl and running away?" the man continued.

"I don't want to have a troublesome argument. Because I'm not a girl" Shikamaru said turning his head towards his father but not looking at him in the eyes.

"Yes… but you're not a man either." The man said. "You're just a regular coward. Even if you quit being a shinobi missions will still occur. Someone will carry them out. Your companions will just be assigned a new leader. Then you friends may just die."

"But if you're their leader that may not happen. If you look at this as a learning experience, maybe you can carry on missions better. If you're friends are really important to you… before running away consider becoming greater for their sake".

Shikamaru stood silent listening carefully to his father or at least it seemed so to Temari.

"That's what it means to be a real friend, you coward!" Shikamaru's father shouted, interrupting the girl's thoughts. Despite her training, she couldn't help to show a saddened expression on her face. She cared about him. As much as she tried to denied it. As much as she tried to stop it. As much as she tried to understand the reason. She didn't know why, she just cared. And that was bothering her even more now.

The door to the emergency opened. It was Tsunade who had some good news. Chouji would recover. Almost instantly Shizune came running to inform about the condition of the other seriously injured shinobi. "Hyuga Neji's condition has stabilized; also I have received information that Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto have arrived. He is injured but he'll recover"

For a moment Shikamaru just stood there. Silent. But he soon cracked and tears streamed down his face "next time… I'll carry the mission perfectly". This was a whole new side of him she had never seen before. Shikamaru actually caring about something.

He dried his tears with his hands and continued to move towards Naruto's room to pay a visit to his friend, along with the Hokage.

Shikamaru noticed a change on the Hokage's face. She adopted a more serious look out of nowhere.

"Shikamaru, I would like you to be an academy teacher from now on". Said Tsunade firmly. At the moment he was left speechless having no idea what to reply. A few seconds later with a surprised face he replied "But I just recently became a chunnin, failed my first mission and brought back my team seriously injured. Why do you want me to be in charge of the kids?" being responsible for other people is something new for you. These kids will now be your responsibility; hopefully this can get you familiar with having people under your watch. Take this as a learning experience and as an exercise to test and improve you leadership skills. Not wanting to get into an argument and knowing he didn't really have much choice he agreed. "You'll be starting tomorrow then". As soon as you arrive find Iruka and ask him for instructions. He's already informed. I also want you to take the kids to send of the sand nins off. They're apparently leaving until tomorrow. Temari's face came to his mind then. He had forgotten to thank her. She stayed by his side the whole time he was in the expectative, besides helping him and his team. He hated being saved by a girl, but now that it happened he should be grateful, just as his fine manners told him. Even though he disliked the way most women behaved, he had being though in the traditional ways and followed them. "Never hit a woman, be thankful to other people, and always offer to help, etc… how troublesome" he though. Going back to the reality he quickly gave the hokage the answer she was waiting for. "Hai" he replied while entering Naruto's room.

After a while of talking to him and Sakura (that showed up later) he decided to leave with a much lighter mood.

"I'm so glad everyone is fine" he whispered while closing the door to Naruto's room. He headed for the exit eager to go cloud watching for a while after everything that happened.

Once he arrived to the reception he was surprised to find Temari sitting on a chair next to a door that had the word "enter" written in it, probably 6 or 7 feet away from him. She seemed to be waiting for someone. As soon as Temari spotted him she stood up… and headed for the door.

Based on an impulse Shikamaru went after her and outside the hospital said on a lazy voice,

"Hey…" Temari stopped, giving her back to Shikamaru.

"I heard you guys are gonna stay in the village until tomorrow right?" he continued, "It's probably safer, since it's already past noon". He was holding in his face an expression similar of that of a person that's been forced to do something.

"You can stay in my house for the night. It'll be troublesome but I don't think my parents would refuse" said Shikamaru.

Temari violently turned around to face Shikamaru

"Not even in your dreams asshole" said Temari with obvious irritation.

"Where did that come from…? I only asked because you stayed to keep me compa-

"I stayed to keep you company? Don't flatter yourself baka! It was blatant to Shikamaru that she had started to lose control. Why would I ever care for a lazy self-centered idiot like you? Why… why would I like someone who doesn't care about making something with his life? Why do I like a bum who is not confident enough to… Temari suddenly realized what she just said. She couldn't avoid blushing, but almost instantly regained control of herself.

Look, I only stayed here because the Kazekage asked us to until we knew the condition of your team. We do now so I'll be leaving tomorrow to never see your lazy face again".

"This is why I dislike dealing with women" Shikamaru though to himself absolutely clueless on why Temari was acting so rude, even more than usual.

She then gave her back to Shikamaru again and started walking.

At this point Shikamaru would probably start walking away, to the opposite direction, but…

He felt the urge to stop her. He wasn't sure why though, after that demonstration of attitude talking to her would only cause a troublesome situation, he knew it. The only thing he wanted was to thank her for this day. She helped him after all, and stayed with him, for whatever reason she did. He didn't want to owe her a thank you, so he decided to get it out quickly.

"I don't know why you are acting like that" Shikamaru said on a strong decided voice "and I honestly don't care. I just wanted to say thank you for your help… take care". He then started walking the other way trying to avoid another demonstration of anger like the one just a few seconds ago.

"I'm sorry…" she said on a slow trembling voice still giving her back on Shikamaru. He turned his to face her immediately not believing his ears.

"I just… have some things to deal with myself at the moment. I didn't mean to be so rude" she said almost whispering. "I'm glad you're ok… everyone I mean…"

"My brothers are waiting for me I better get going" she then started running away from him. He was still confused with the sudden mood change but he couldn't help to feel sad when he saw her getting farther away from him. Even though they spoke little her sole presence made him feel more comfortable while waiting to find out about Chouji.

-

"Temari, you are really late" Kankuro said with an angry face. "Shut up idiot" was her reply.

"Looks like she's back to her old self "he told Gaara on a low voice. "What are you babbling about Kankuro? We better go to sleep already. It's a long trip tomorrow" her brothers nodded. The three sand nins then started walking.

-

Next morning…

"Shikamaru! I can't believe you're already a teacher, in such a short time!" Iruka greeted the newly appointed instructor.

"There's not really much to do, just follow this schedule and these texts. I'll give you more details later; however, if you have any especial doubts just ask me or any other teacher. Oh by the way you're taking the kids to go and send off the sand allies right? I'll go get them. Watch them carefully though… they are like roaches…ROACHES THAT YEARN ONLY TO HUMMILIATE YOU AND CONSUME YOU PATIENCE THAT'S WHAT THEY'REE! coughcough, I'm sorry. I'll be right back.

-

"Well it's time to go to at last!" Temari enthusiastically shouted. "Not yet" Kankuro replied. "We were told someone form the village was going to come and send us off. We'll have to wait".

"Someone from the village?" She tough silently "Who could it be?" A few minutes later she glanced at a group of kids coming towards them. With a familiar face leading them.

"Hi" said Shikamaru catching up to them. The Hokage sent us to thank you for your help and send you off. "Kids, what do you want to say to them?", "Thank you very much!" all the kids shouted at the same time. After a small chat between the kids and Temari, Shikamaru apologized for the situation "Sorry about this, I'd like to send you off more properly, but I've also been assigned as an academy teacher now."

"What? This doesn't bother us at all" Temari replied. "Yeah, besides I wanted to meet Konoha's future ninja forces" Kankuro said. "Well, take care, be careful going home" Shikamaru said looking at Temari with a mischievous smile with on his face.

"Yeah" Kankuro replied.

"If anything happens again, we'll help out" the female sand ninja said returning the smile to Shikamaru "is that ok crybaby?"

"You talk too much" he said keeping his smile "because of that women are..." Leaving the phrase incomplete Shikamaru heard Temari laugh for the first time. Soon after the three sand ninjas left his sight.

End of chapter 1

**Well, thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. I'll probably update the history within two weeks, so there won't be much wait if you did.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well here's the new chapter. Updated within two weeks as promised!  
I actually was going to go farther in this one, but the length was getting out of hand. Nobody likes crazy long chapters.  
You'll also notice Ino is in it too, but there's no possibility for a ShikaIno. ShIkAtEmA FoReVeR!  
It's just to add a little triangle feel, and hopefully boosting the romance.  
Well that's it. Hope you enjoy it.  
P.S. – As always, any constructive criticism is appreciated.**

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Chapter 2: The return to leaf 

Ino stared at the ceiling of her room, wondering about her future. Sasuke had been gone for more than 2 years now and she still felt a little bit sad about it. After all he was her first big crush and that something a girl never forgets… that only made it harder for her to even think about moving on. Up until this point she never though on anyone else she could be interested in romantically aside from Sasuke. She tough it was the same thing with Sakura, her rival, but she seemed to be taking it pretty good, certainly better than her. She was training with the Hokage with a huge determination. Being in the same team with Naruto and Sasuke had affected her; she wanted to become stronger now, even when she never really cared about that back in the academy. Ino had also grown, maybe not in strength but she definitely had matured. She wasn't as shallow as she used to, and so childish about everything she wanted, she was still too confident on her looks though, her biggest flaw. After all, seems like the pain she went trough got many things on perspective for her.

She had realized she had to move on. She had been wallowing on her sorrows for too long. Even if Sasuke came back, he was different now. He decided to join the enemy and literally decided to sell his body for the sake of revenge. Even if somehow he returned to Konoha, she knew a relationship with him could never be possible.

"But who else?" that was the question harassing her at the moment. Who but Sasuke could she see herself with? She had though about other Konoha ninjas but could not imagine herself with any of them. There was only 2 she hadn't though of, her teammates. She saw Chouji as a brother, and their relationship was certainly like that of a brother and sister. They fought constantly and she used to pick at him for his eating habits. She could never think about Chouji that way. But the other one… was different. A lazy ninja with no aspirations, and ironically a strategy genius of Konoha. Ever since the chunnin exam when the sand and sound attacked the village he gained that reputation. He could have become popular; after all, he was the only one to get promoted. But he prevented that from happening. Even though that would have brought him a lot of attention especially from the girls. He hated being noticed… and he hated girls.

Well it's not so much as he hates them, but he seems to reject establishing too personal bonds with females. As if he disliked the way they are. Ino had noticed that since they became teammates. Knowing that she couldn't switch teams, she decided to just accept the one she's been assigned, no point on having a bad relationship with 2 guys you're going to be spending that much time with. She did have a good relationship with him, she cheered for him back then and supported him but… every time she tried to get closer than that and get to know him better as a friend and team partner, he wouldn't take it seriously and often talk his way out of it. The time they spent together was only the one they forcefully had to, for missions or training. The few times they were just hanging, Chouji would have to be there as well, they were never alone. She never really cared though, she tried to be her friend and if he didn't want to it was his fault.

But lately… her mind probably subconsciously, had started to look at him differently. Knowing that Sasuke was gone she started to open her mind to a new love interest before she even realized. She had noticed him. He was growing more mature, and he had started to look more handsome to her. And he also had his genius intelligence. Without even knowing she had started to feel attracted to Shikamaru. And she understood that now. Now that she decided to let go of Sasuke it all seemed clearer. Shikamaru was the one… and she wasn't about to let it go this time. This time she would fight for him, with everything she had. She will not give up until the man she chose looks at her with different eyes.

"Not much of a fight though, hehe" she though, assuming that no other female had her eyes on Shikamaru, and Shikamaru didn't have his on any female either. Besides a girl as beautiful as her could never be rejected, especially by someone who doesn't have an instant appeal like Shikamaru.

Painfully but with a new objective in mind she decided to let go of the past and live the present.

-

Temari stared at the ceiling of her room with a smile in her face. Baki-sensei had just told her that her first assignment as a Jounin would be traveling to Konoha to assist the preparations meetings for the new Chunnin exam. She was going to see him again. She felt guilty about the feelings she'd experienced back then and even now after she was told the news. As if it was wrong. To her it was though, there was no reason for her to be feeling with she was feeling. Yet, she was looking forward to seeing him again. She still didn't knew what that would be like, but, she though that seeing him again could drive the feeling away. Maybe after seeing him again she would wake up from the idealized dream she made him. She decided to resume her sleep now. All her questions would be answered tomorrow.

-

Shikamaru stared at the ceiling of his room, laying on his bed with his two arms behind his head.

"Why is the Hokage so…" he whispered. Ever since she was appointed as a Hokage he felt she gave him too much attention... It all started with the Sasuke mission, then when she made him academy teacher and now this.

"Shikamaru, you will be an examiner on this year's chunnin exam" He remembered hearing… he would have declined but they way she said it was obvious it was an order.

"I'll guess I'll have to do it… hopefully it won't be too troublesome… it shouldn't be" He though. An examiner's job wasn't that hard anyways; just apply an exam, that's it. At least he hoped that was it. But the Hokage had told him to meet her in her office tomorrow for an exam-related assignment, which worried him. What else was he going to have to do?

- Next morning

"Right on time Shikamaru, as usual" Tsunade-sama said with a satisfied expression on her face.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru replied with a whatever look on his. "So why did you make me come here so early Hokage-sama? What does this have to do with the chunnin exam?"

Well your first assignment as an examiner will be escorting one of the ninjas from the other villages. It's very important work to take good care of the rest of the participants since most of the relations between us and the rest of the hidden villages strengthen in this exam.

"Great, now I'll have to be stuck with someone" he though "how troublesome".

"Let me see who is assigned to you… mmmm pages turning oh here you are. You will be escorting the ninja sent from the hidden village of… sand". Tsunade noticed a small amount of shock in Shikamaru's face.

"What's wrong? You feel uncomfortable because of what happened the exam 2 years ago? Don't worry; thinks are pretty solid right now with them" Tsunade assured him

"Meh, it's not that, but could I be assigned to someone else?" Shikamaru said.

"Well I don't know your reasons but changing anything right now is impossible. We can't have any unnecessary problems, show your ninja discipline and deal with it" Tsunade replied with a firm look on her face.

"Hai" Shikamaru sobbed showing some feelings of worry.

"Go wait at the gates, when that person arrives, meet me back here, we'll schedule the meetings and other details"

-

Shikamaru walked towards the gates wondering. "Out of all the sand nins what is the possibility of… it couldn't be her… I don't have that much bad luck" Shikamaru saw quick flashbacks from 2 years ago… he still felt awkward about that whole scene, now being stuck with her for so long could only bring a troublesome situation. He'd rather not go trough any of that. Besides he knew that chances of Temari being the nin sent would be-

"Lazy ass?" he heard while he struggled to believe his ears. "Don't tell me you're the person who's going to escort me. This seems like the beginning of bad luck run".

"Yes it does…" Shikamaru whispered to himself.

"I had nothing to do with this" Shikamaru told her "The Hokage assigned me randomly. Since there's nothing we can do about it we might just accept it and get along as good as humanly possible" Shikamaru said with a resigned look in his face.

"I guess so bum" Temari replied. "So where are we going?"

"To the Hokage office. She's going to explain us some things about the exam" then they started walking.

After a short moment of silence, Temari said

"So… how you've been?

"Do you really care?" Shikamaru replied

"I though we agreed on getting along while we did this." Temari scolded him ", Now, don't make me repeat myself "Shikamaru gave her a cold look "She's even bossier than before" he though.

"I've been fine" Shikamaru said "Though the load of work seems to be growing more and more… it's so troublesome".

Temari looked at him with what appeared to be a smile "looks like you're still as lazy as you were back then. I though maybe with all the new responsibilities you were given you would've become livelier" she said.

"No, I still hate it… I kind of like the academy though. Even though I'm a teacher there's plenty of time to rest there just like when I was studying. The missions are the troublesome part. But I don't get as many since I became a teacher".

"And… what about girls?" Temari said

"What about them?" Shikamaru replied

"You still think they're troublesome?"

"Of course, as I've grown older I've only realized how right I am"

"So you don't… have…"

"A woman? No. I haven't found the one I'm looking for yet"

"And how is the women you're looking for?"

"Well… not too pretty but not too ugly, obedient, definitely not loud, etc… someone like me I guess" "oh…"

"Why are you asking me about this anyways?"

"I'm just trying to make conversation idiot"

"Is that so?... So then, how have you been? How was the trip?"

"Fine I guess. It seemed shorter than the last time I came"

While they kept walking away from the gates, a pair of eyes looked at them. It was Yamanaka Ino that was both surprised and confused about the scene she just witnessed. Even though she was too far away to hear anything, the images were obvious enough. Shikamaru went to meet this girl at the gates, and then went away chatting lively with her.

"What's going on…" she though starting to feel a bit desperate.

"Could it be…?" Thinking back Ino remembered seeing them together a few times before… when they returned from the Sasuke mission, in the hospital, in the gates… all after their fight in the chunnin exam. But this was the first time she saw her or anyone from the sand since then, 2 years ago, they couldn't possibly have something… besides as much as she hated to admit it, the girl was pretty cute and there's no logical reason for her to like him. Only maybe from the respect to Shikamaru's intelligence, but that wouldn't be enough.

"I know! I'll bump into them accidentally and find out what's going on!. I'll also try to take Shikamaru away; I have to start getting closer to him as soon as possible".

Ino quickly caught up with them on the street at the right of the one they were walking on. Just as the pair was about to pass an interception Ino came running crashing into Shikamaru's chest"

"I-Ino?" Shikamaru said obviously surprised while holding her to prevent her from falling down.

"Shikamaru! I'm sorry Shikamaru I didn't see you!"

"It's ok… where are you going in such a hurry anyways?"

"He—he no-nowhere I was just returning home- but I'm actually glad I found you I need to talk to you. Huh? Who's that?" Ino said while looking at Temari

"You don't remember? I fought her in the chunnin exam two years ago, and she helped us in the Sasuke mission 2 years ago. This is Temari a sand kunoichi"

"Oh ok" Ino replied giving Temari an indifferent look, to then quickly face Shikamaru with a smile "So could you come with me for a while Shikamaru? I really have to talk to you"

"She has to talk to me?" Shikamaru though, it was the first time he remembered Ino saying those words. For Ino to act like that it must be something serious.

"Is everyone ok?"

"Oh yeah, don't worry it's nothing bad" Shikamaru looked at her with a confused and intrigued expression.

"Ok, what happened?"

"Umm, could we do it in private" Ino said while looking at Temari with an annoyed expression on her face.

"All righ-"

"Hey" Temari interrupted yet again.

"This lazy bum has become my property for as long as I stay in Konoha. He cannot go anywhere with you"

Ino looked at Shikamaru with a puzzled expression.

"Shikamaru what's going on?" Ino's face reflected a small amount of anger.

"I've been assigned as an examiner in the chunnin exam; my job is to escort this woman while she is here for the preparation meetings. Still, that doesn't I've become your personal slave, this is something -"

"If you leave, I'll be sure to let the Hokage know how good attentions to me have been. I'm sure she'll be glad to know, don't you think?" Temari interrupted him yet again.

"Is she threatening me? Not only is she bossy but she is manipulative

"I'm sorry Ino" the lazy ninja said "but I don't want to go trough yet another troublesome situation with the Hokage. We'll talk later".

"But... ok" Ino said disappointed.

Before leaving, Temari saw Ino whispering something quickly to Shikamaru in the ear.

"What's this girl up to?" did they got this close in two years?"

"Ok, let's get going, you Hokage must be already waiting" Temari said to him, on an order voice tone.

Shikamaru looked at her with a confused expression. Why wouldn't she want to let him go speak with Ino? It would have taken a few minutes at most.

"She's probably just trying to mess with me. She is using the situation to annoy me" he though while he started walking along.

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**Well, thank you for reading. i'll try and update the story whithin 2 weeks again. see ya.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the new chapter! I hope you enjoy it. I know, I know, there's some action on this one, but It's all for the sake of romance. Here we go!**

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Chapter 3: Acceptance

Shikamaru stared at the Hokage with a lazy expression in his face.

"Well done Shikamaru you're on time for the second time today. Unfortunately seems like some of the persons the other villages sent are running a little late. We can't have this meeting without them obviously, so we'll reschedule for tomorrow"

"But… what am I suppose to do with her?" Shikamaru looked at Temari with a troublesome face

"Your assignment now is to take care of the accommodations of the person you're escorting. Your name is Temari right? From the sand? Oh! the Kazekage's sister correct? Shikamaru will take good care of you, even more now, otherwise just tell me and he'll be disciplined".

"Hai" Temari replied with a smirk on her face.

"But Hokage-sama, I don't have enough money to -" Shikamaru said but couldn't finish.

"I'm sure you'll figure out how. After all you're the smartest chunnin in our village." Tsunade-sama interrupted him while putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hai" Shikamaru replied with an irritated look on his face.

-

"The Kazekage's sister?" Shikamaru asked keeping his sight on the road

"Yes, Garaa is now the Kazekage" Temari replied.

"I'd never imagine…" Shikamaru said with a surprised look.

"Me neither, until the chunnin exam 2 years ago. He changed drastically since then…"

"So where am I staying? I'll settle for nothing for the best" Temari asked Shikamaru

"I can't afford the best. You'll be staying in my house" Shikamaru replied

"In your house?" Temari said with an angry voice tone

Then again she knew there was probably no other choice. Besides… she'd be close…

"What am I thinking!" Temari shook her head trying to clear her thoughts

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked

"Shut up" she replied "Anyways, I suppose that I'll stand it, since it'll only be a night. But, it's too early to go to sleep. Show me interesting places of your village"

"Mmmmmmm no. I'm not your tourist guide. You're here for business and I'm not doing anything outside that" Shikamaru told her almost with an angry voice

"So… you don't want to spend time with me then…" Temari said whispering while looking down changing her attitude completely.

"What?" Shikamaru struggled to believe his ears, not even knowing what to reply

"Nothing" Temari replied regaining control

"Damn, it happened again" she though.

"If you won't do it then I'll go alone" Temari said to then start running away from him

"Wait! You don't even know where I live!" Shikamaru yelled, but he was ignored.

"What was that? Does she want me to spend time with her? That face… that voice tone… It's not like her at all… it's like that time…" Shikamaru wondered "I think I was too rude though…damn, I can't just let her go, if the Hokage finds out I'll be in trouble" he realized, so he decided to look for her immediately.

Before he had a chance to leave his thoughts were interrupted.

"Shikamaru" a familiar female voice behind him said "you're alone at last..." A thin blond girl said to him.

"Ino…"

"Can we talk now?" she asked

"I'm sorry Ino, I can't… right now I have to do something"

"Shikamaru it's really important that I talk to you, please" she seemed a bit desperate

"I'm sorry Ino, we'll do it later" ignoring her request Shikamaru started looking for Temari.

"What's going on… this two women I though I knew... are acting so strange... well, it's not time to think about that" Shikamaru though while looking around for Temari

-

It was after 11 and Shikamaru could not find Temari. It was getting late and his worries started to grow. He'd been on most of the places she could be, but had no luck in finding her.

Then suddenly out of nowhere he was surprised to hear a familiar voice

"Hello sensei!" the familiar voice yelled. He turned around and found Konohamaru staring at him with a smile.

"Ko- Konohamaru what are you doing here this late?" Shikamaru asked surprised

"I was just going home but I spotted you in my way and decided to say hi"

"You were just going home…? Listen Konohamaru, do you remember Temari the sand Kunoichi from 3 years ago?"

"Temari-chan? The sand Kunoichi?... yes! I saw her today"

"You saw her here today? Where is she?"

"Yes sensei! I recognized her immediately. She was going towards the gates like an hour ago I think… it looked like she was going outside...

Shikamaru was shocked.

"Thank you Konohamaru, go straight to your house now!" he said as he ran towards that same direction"

"Shikamaru-sensei! Where are you going?" Konohamaru asked yelling, but got no reply

"Damn it… outside... what is she thinking…" he ran desperately towards the gates knowing the dangers of being outside at these hours.

From a distant hidden spot a women spied on Shikamaru, as she'd done the past few hours. It was Ino that watched him running at the gates with a determination she'd seen very few times in him… it seemed like he was… motivated. Not thinking it twice Ino ran behind him, without being spotted, she needed to know what Shikamaru was up too. She'd been acting strange since he refused to talk to her earlier.

-

Shikamaru'd been looking for Temari in the forest for about 30 minutes with no success. His desperation was already taking over. His tactical skills and intelligence started to weaken at a concerning rate.

But he couldn't give up… he started to wonder if this was just about business… the little scene… that mood change a while ago had moved something in him… but this was no time to think about that. Just as he was submerged in his thoughts the sound of sobbing caught his attention. Not to far away he could hear, like someone was crying. It didn't take too long for Shikamaru to find the source. Sitting on the grass with her head supported by her legs, and her back against a tree Shikamaru could see Temari… crying.

At first he wasn't sure how to approach the situation. Off course he was relieved she was safe, but what was he going to do if he approached? If he even asked she'd probably just told him to shut up or mind his own business. There wasn't much choice though… he had bring her back as soon as possible, it was too late already and he'd be in trouble if someone spotted them coming back at this hours from the outside. No, he'd rather not go trough that. Not hesitating any further on one jump he appeared before the sand Kunoichi, scaring her a little.

"Temari…" he said with a low voice tone "Let's go to the village… it's too late to be outside" making his voice stronger and giving her his back.

"You don't even care why… I'm crying?" Temari said sobbing

Shikamaru was too surprised to react "how… how am I supposed to handle this? Should I ask what's going on? Or just -" Temari interrupted him in the middle of his thoughts.

"That time at the hospital… 3 years ago… the worst thing that could happen to me happened" Temari said almost whispering looking at the ground "for the first time… I felt the dependence and the impotence of… being attracted. I was so confused… I've never felt like that. It was a side of me I refused to open up… it would be against what I am to feel that… but you opened it. You created that confusion… I though I could just ignore these feelings, forget that ever happened… but yet, when they told me I was going to see you again I couldn't help to feel happy… I though maybe seeing you again could drive the it away… could wake me up but… when I saw you walking towards the gate earlier today… with a concerned expression on your face… I felt it all over again, even stronger than before... I really don't know wh-" Before Temari could finish she was cut off by someone using a sarcastic voice tone.

"Ohhh, how sweet. I'm sorry to burst your love talk but I have to ask you a few questions" a mysterious man appeared in the top of a tree.

"Who are you?" Shikamaru asked while pulling out a kunai

"My master is a member of the Akatsuki. I heard they are looking possible locations for the Kyuubi so I figured I'd look good and do some research on my own. I'm sure my master will be happy if I get any results" He said with a confident smile on his face

"I did some research on that Naruto kid, and found out who are the most likely people to know his location. I was lucky to find you here Nara Shikamaru, you were my first target" He said looking straight at Shikamaru "I need to know his location, tell me now"

"I don't know where Naruto is, but if I did it'll be too troublesome to tell you" Shikamaru replied returning the confident smile to him.

"Troublesome ha? Oh well, I'll try luck with your other friends then, right after you finish you off" His voice tone changed to a more threatening one.

Temari stood up quickly and grabbed her fan, amazingly regaining her control and strength

"Aren't you confident, well then we shall fight, stand back dimwit I'll handle this"

"I'm the one who's supposed to look after you"

"Shut it, I'm not asking"

Without hesitation Temari used her fan to launch a wind attack towards the unknown man" he was able to dodge it, but was not expecting such attack from the look of his face.

"Damn it I didn't expect no one else. I have no idea who this woman is… she looks strong though… I'll have to catch her with my Genjutsu as soon as possible, I don't think I have a chance on close combat" he though hiding behind the tree. "Bunshen no jutsu" he whispered while making the seal to do a replication. "I hope she falls for this. She's probably underestimating me for the way I dodged the attack… I only need to distract her a second".

Temari saw the man come out of his hideout apparently trying to run away.

"Don't even think that!" Temari yelled while swinging her fan against him.

"Behind you!" Shikamaru desperately tried to alert the sand Kunoichi. In a second he appeared behind her, Temari turned around to face him "Damn it a replication" he was holding a mirror of the size of his hand aiming at her face reflecting her eyes. In a flash Temari fell into a trance-like state. "Damn it" Shikamaru didn't expect her to have any trouble… since he barely dodged her first attack but he apparently caught her on some kind of Genjutsu.

"I'll have to fight" he told himself.

"Kagemane no jutsu" thanks to the moon light Shikamaru was able to launch his shadow towards the unknown ninja.

"Ah the shadow imitation, I know about this too. You try to take control of my body using your shadow. You don't have the element of surprise, you'll never caught me"

"Damn it" Shikamaru said while looking at the static Temari. What's she going trough…

_- Inside Temari head -  
_

_"Huh? Where am I? Temari opened her eyes. She found herself lying in the ground injured, but not badly._

_"What happened… with the enemy…" she whispering feeling a little dizzy "where is… where is" suddenly Temari's eyes widened "Shikamaru!" she stood up quickly desperately looking for him with her sight. "Shikamaru" she yelled once again._

_She took a few steps back fearing Shikamaru could have been captured… but she almost fell. Her foot touched something. She was scared to look but at the same time she couldn't help to do it… and found what she feared the most. Shikamaru's body layed there, lifeless._

_She fell on her knees and then she stopped herself from falling to the ground with her hands. She held in her face a mix of desperation and confusion…_

_"Idiot, what… what are you doing" she smacked him trying to fool herself "wake up!" she yelled "I order you to wake up!" tears started streaming down her face. Then she began screaming._

_-_

"Damn it what's going on!" Shikamaru though

Temari was still standing in the same place but she seemed to be suffering. she had just started screaming and crying, holding her head desperately.

"Damn… the illusion this guy is using must be strong. I have to break it before it's too late… but how… there's no way I can surprise him… damn it I can't think clearly anymore" Shikamaru was afraid of that. Whenever he fell into desperation and he couldn't keep his calm it seemed like he was doomed. There was nothing else he could do.

"What are you thinking!" the enemy yelled throwing a kunai at him.

"No!" Shikamaru returned to the fight but it was too late. He managed to avoid a critical hit but the kunai got him in the arm, badly enough to prevent him from raising his arm without experiencing strong pain.

Looks like you can't move your arm anymore. That means you're finished. I guess I'll do it quick and save you from more suffering. You should be thankful.

"Damn it… is this… it?"

The man stood up in front of Shikamaru raising his kunai to the air.

"Die!" he screamed.

Shikamaru closed his eyes awaiting the impact but after a few seconds, realized it wouldn't happen.

"What-t?" he opened his eyes looking up at the man. He was still standing there.

""Shikamaru…" the man said. Shikamaru was unable to see his expression.

"Hi!" he showed him a big smile.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Good thing I was around, you could have died here"

"I-Ino!"

The man smiled again.

Shikamaru flinched when he heard a loud scream by the sand Kunoichi.

"Temari!" without even thanking Ino, Shikamaru ran towards Temari as quickly as he possibly could.

He shook her trying to wake her looking for her reaction; at the same time he felt an intense pain coming from his arm. He had wasted too much charka as too, and he felt as he was close to collapse. He suddenly felt relived, Temari seemed to be sleeping. Apparently she managed to brake out of the Genjutsu but fallen asleep.

"Ino, thank you. You really saved us this time" Shikamaru said, standing up.

"Shikamaru!" a strong male voice yelled approaching them. It was Asuma-sensei.

"Asuma-sensei, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru said surprised, but with a weak expression.

"I ran into one of your students earlier. He told me you went outside, and I came here looking for you. What are you doing out here at this hours idiot?" he scolded him with a wondering expression.

"Shikamaru are you alright?" Ino asked Shikamaru who looked pale.

"Please… take care of Temari… take her to my house" after saying that Shikamaru collapsed to the ground and his consciousness went away.

* * *

**Well, that's it, thank you for reading. I hope you liked it, I'll try update within a week this time, since my admission exam to college is in a month and I want to have at least 3 weeks to study. See ya.**


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